Monday, October 13, 2008

Traudl Herrhausen, is the widow of Alfred Herrhausen. He was was the chairman of the Deutsche Bank , West Germany's largest, and a major member of the German business elite who had driven Germany's post war economic success - whilst East Germany declined.

She has maintained a public silence about his violent assassination on November 30th 1989.

His death was the result of plot executed with flawless military precision. A sack of armour piercing explosive on a parked bicycle was triggered remotely by an infra red beam as the first of the 3 car convoy passed. An observer then activated the device.

Construction workers had previously carefully laid the wire connecting the bomb and it's trigger under the pavement in the days preceding this extraordinarily well planned event - on a route he rarely used.

His death (it was said) represented a remarkable 3rd generation of the Red Army Faction utilising new techniques and technology.

With the wall down, known Red Army cadres who had been previously been granted political asylum in East Germany were rounded up. Beginning in about 1980, the Stasi granted refuge to 10 members of the Red Army Faction in East Germany and gave them assumed identities.

11 comments:

Modern speedos are actually stepper motors which, when power/data to the instrument binnacle is lost will retain their last position.

142kph could have been reached because of wheelspin when the car became airborne prior to landing on its roof (at which point the crash sensors would have triggered cutting power). Whilst one might expect traction control to limit wheel speed, it may have been applying differential braking to wheels on one side of the car (depending on how the yaw motion was sensed by the ESP system) which would permit (via the differential) the engine and gearbox to still run freely (and reach the indicated speed - even if launch was only at 70kph).

To (mis-)quote Sherlock Holmes (The Valley of Fear) 'no doubt that it was well stage-managed'

From Wiki:Some months before his violent death, Herrhausen is reported to have advocated Third World debt cancellation and reorganisation of the world's financial system at the World Bank meeting in Washington, D.C. In his position as the chairman of one of the most powerful banks in the world, his insistence would have been influential.

His last Interview:Haider demands Government of national unity (incl. all parties):10.10.2008 22:27

Q. What do you recommend to your fellow countrymen who fear for their savings?

HAIDER: Don't become nervous, because savings balances are safe by our [government] safety mechanism (aka, "deposit insurance"). In addition, it is important that they leave their money in the bank. Only by doing so can the economy get money in order to transact investments. Otherwise, we lose jobs.

Q. Highly-paid managers caused the misery. Is there sufficient cause to prosecute them for their irresponsibility?

HAIDER: Those who thoughtlessly dealt with entrusted money must reap the consequences. We need stricter oversight, a change of the criminal law, and a special courtyard for economic crimes. Those who earned gigantic sums of money are not poor. Their criminal responsibility must be established, then they must be locked up.

Q. Is the economic program announced by Werner Faymann [new Conservative chairman] and Josef Proell [new Socialist chairman] the correct procedure?

HAIDER: It depends on what the program contains. According to the constitution of the parliament, we need clarification. Because of how we are affected by the crisis, we expect to incur employment problems. If we want to compensate export losses sustained by a development of the national economy, then we must implement income-strengthening measures by reducing taxes. In addition, we need to provide something for the middle class, such as a fund to offset the loss of the banks as credit givers.